New Beginnings
by Dinox
Summary: I sighed and looked up at my mother who smiled softly at me. Time to face my destiny.  I signed. She laughed and reached behind to hold my hand.I was leaving my old life behind. New beginnings. *AH* Deaf Bella
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter one BPOV:**_

_Mom,_ I signed_, you know I want to do this. A new start is what I need. _

_I know, baby, _she spoke and signed at the same time_, but I don't know why you need to go back to forks. No one there will know how to sign, not even Charlie._

_I can read lips, mom. You know that well enough and I can sort of speak. People will just have to get used to me. Also I will have an interpreter in almost every class, you worry too much._ I felt guilty for lying to her about there being an interpreter but she wouldn't let me go unless she thought I would be able to understand my teachers.

_I'm sorry, you know I love you, right?_

I nodded. She had been telling me over and over since I had told her that I wanted to move in with my father, Charlie. He had never come to terms with my being deaf and hadn't been too bothered when my mom left with me in tow. He thought I was a freak and I didn't mind because I thought it too. My mom just told me I was special. I had always been special. When I was born I was completely deaf because I was premature, my ears never had chance to develop properly and because of some faulty genes they never have. No one realised I was deaf until I was 2 years old when they did tests on me to see if I had a problem understanding speech because whenever someone spoke to me I would ignore them or look at them as though I didn't speak their language. Which was kind of true. As soon as my mom found out she signed both her and me up for an ASL course. We both picked it up pretty quickly and mom convinced my dad to sign up too. He went for a few days but he never got the hang of it and gave up pretty soon. I had never hated him for not trying to learn my 'language' but I hated the fact that he expected me to understand him perfectly. He was the reason I could read lips and speak although my speech was very slow and I was often made fun of for being stupid. When I was five my mom had finally had enough of his attitude towards me and left him. I was happy to be leaving the rainy town but I still wanted to see my dad sometimes. Every year I would go down to forks and spend a week in the summer with him. I perfected the art of lip reading and tried my best to keep up with the kids there. None of them realised I was deaf and this was the way I preferred it. Being deaf wasn't who I was; it was just a part of me. I sighed and looked up at my mother who smiled softly at me. _Time to face my destiny. _ I signed. She laughed and reached behind to hold my hand. This would be the last time I would see my mother for a while. She was travelling with her boyfriend, Phil, and I was moving across the country. I was even changing my name. I would no longer be Isabella Marie Jenks, the deaf girl. I would be Bella Swan, the new girl. I smiled and waved goodbye to my mom, who had tears in her eyes. 'I love you' she mouthed at me before I was ushered onto the plane. I took my seat and settled down for the flight. I put in my headphones and pretended to listen to music so that no one would disturb me. There was a little boy sat next to me who was happily signing away to a woman next to him. I let myself cry silently. I was leaving my old life behind. New beginnings.

I arrived at the Seattle airport and glanced around for Charlie. He was stood to one side with a huge sign held above his head. 'Welcome home, Bells.' I smiled at him and made my way over. _Great look you grown much. _He signed awkwardly. At least he was trying. "Hi dad." I said. He smiled widely and took me into an awkward hug. Nothing had changed about him. His moustache was still as unruly as ever and his eyes, so much like my own, were surrounded by wrinkles, he even smelled the same. Like old leather and tobacco. He grabbed my bag and led me over to his police cruiser. I forgot to mention, Charlie is the chief of police in Forks so I would have to ride around in his cruiser if I needed to get anywhere. Charlie pulled up to his house and got out of the car, leaving me to take in my surroundings. The house itself was tiny and it overlooked the main road in Forks but it was fairly closed off. The next house was at least half a mile down the road and opposite was a huge expanse of forested area that it would be very easy to get lost in. Charlie tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to a beat up old truck that was sat on his driveway. I loved it instantly. "Whose is that?" I asked cautiously. "It's yours, Bells. I thought it would be nice, as a welcome back gift. Do you, err..., like it?" Charlie replied sounding nervous. I suddenly forgot how to speak. It was mine. I threw my arms around Charlie's neck. I could feel him laughing, and pulled back to look at him. "I take it you like it then?" He asked, grinning. I nodded furiously. I saw him laughing once again. "I'm glad." He spoke, looking down so I could barely see what he was saying. He led me up to my room and left me alone to unpack. I was glad he didn't hover. I just needed time to come to terms with my self-inflicted exile. I had already told Charlie not to tell anyone here that I was deaf apart from the teachers at school. I didn't want to be treated differently to other kids. Of course he had ignored me to an extent. He had only told the teachers about my deafness but he had also convinced the school to set up an extra class where people could learn ASL so I could communicate in an emergency where my speaking would be too slow. I doubted anyone would want to learn ASL but at least he was thinking of me and had started to understand that I needed to be able to speak in my own special 'language' that so few understood. The deaf community in Forks was currently non-existent so I was alone in my silence. But I didn't mind. At least I knew I wouldn't be stuck with anybody who wanted people to feel sorry for them because they were 'disabled'. I would never refer to myself as disabled, I was just a bit different. But no one understood that. I was tired of the pity and the sympathetic looks I got from people when they realised I was deaf. I wanted to be just Bella, nothing more. I didn't even want to make friends here I just wanted to be able to blend with the crowd. Become invisible to bullies and jerks. I just wanted a new beginning.

_**Hope you all enjoyed that! Please feel free to PM me with any questions about the story. Please review!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2 EPOV:**_

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _ I rolled over and hit the snooze button on my alarm. Something cold trickled down my back and I rolled over to see my twin sister, Alice, stood above me, a wet cloth hanging over my chest. "Go away." I moaned and shuffled away from her. A little too far apparently as the next thing I know I was sat n the floor, desperately trying to cover myself up with my sheet. Never sleep naked when Alice is home. I told myself over and over in my head. Alice giggled from behind me and I turned to glare at her. "Guess what!" she sang at me. "What." I asked, dreading her answer. "The new girl is starting today and we are going to be best friends!" She squealed, I pressed my hands over my ears and in doing so, dropped the sheet that was covering my decency. Alice slapped her hand over her eyes and looked disgusted. I was just about to pick my sheet up when Esme walked into my room. Seriously, does no one knock these days? When she saw me all exposed she slapped her hand over her mouth and I couldn't help but laugh. I grabbed a pair of boxers off of my dresser and pulled them on quickly. "See no evil, Hear no evil and Speak no evil." Jasper spoke up from the doorway. I felt myself go red. My sister and my mom seeing me naked? Not too bothered. But my sister's boyfriend who also happened to be one of my best friends seeing me naked? Not cool.  
Emmett walked into my room and looked around. "Did someone forget to tell me there was a party in Eddie's room?" He asked, chuckling to himself as though he thought he was hilarious. "Apparently they forgot to tell me too." I mumbled. Emmett laughed loudly and I smiled. Emmett knew how to cheer anyone up, even if he didn't realise it. I grabbed my jeans and a tee-shirt and pulled both on. Alice was stood looking me up and down. She opened her mouth to speak but I got there first. "No, Alice. No." She pouted and stormed out the room with Jasper right behind her. I laughed until I saw my Mom's face. "Apologise, now." She glared at me as I left my room. I walked down the hall to Alice's room and was just about to knock when I heard thumping and moaning coming from inside. I really did not want to know what they were doing. I crept downstairs and stole a piece of toast off of the plate on the table. I held it in my mouth as I slipped my jacket on and went out to wait in my car. It was a usual miserable day in the small town of Forks and I was really not looking forward to school. Lauren Mallory was now definitely reaching stalker level and she had even followed me home the other day. I was literally considering having a restraining order put on her. I looked up when I heard Alice, Jasper and Emmett slide into my car.  
I waited until they were buckled in before I sped off towards school. I pulled into a free parking space and headed towards the front office to pick up my new schedule. In front of me was a girl I didn't recognise. She had long brown hair that had fallen across her face as she scanned over her schedule. She turned to face me and I was stunned by her beauty. This must have been the new girl. I smiled at her as she walked past. She lifted her hand up to her hair as if to brush it behind her ear but seemed to think better of it and dropped her hand awkwardly. I saw her moving her fingers in a way that looked familiar. I picked up my schedule and groaned internally. My first class was ASL. I didn't need to take this class as I was almost fluent in ASL but the school thought it would be best if I started these classes to keep my memory fresh or something. I only agreed because it was a small class and hopefully none of the 'popular' kids would have joined. I was being slightly hypocritical because I was deemed as being one of the popular kids but I hated that label. I just wanted to fit in. But that was almost impossible. I was just too interesting. I was pretty good looking for a guy of my age. Most girls deemed that I was a 'total fitty'. I have to admit I wasn't too bad looking but I wasn't anything special. My bronze hair was unruly and could never be tamed and my eyes were a deep green. People especially liked my smile. Apparently it was very cute but I didn't see it. The right side of my mouth was always higher than my left when I smiled. I had always hated it because it made me look fake but girls went crazy for it. I tried to smile as little as possible at school. I reached my class late and I slipped in as quietly as I could and took a seat at the back. There was only ten of us in the class altogether. There was Me, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie( Emmett's girlfriend), Mike Newton, Tyler Crowley, Angela Weber, Jessica Stanley and the new girl. The teacher spoke to us while she signed. I tried to block out her speaking as much as I could and just focus on her signs to see if I could keep up. She told us that we would only be speaking using ASL unless there was an emergency. She told us that there were textbooks at the back of the class with all the basics in them, for those of us who didn't know them already. Everyone apart from Me, Alice and the new girl grabbed a textbook. When everyone was back in their seats the teacher told us to pair up. As expected Jasper and Alice paired up, Emmett and Rosalie, Mike and Tyler, Jessica and Angela also paired up so it was just me and the new girl. I walked over to where she was sat and took a seat facing her. The teacher told us to just talk to each other and found out about each other for today. _Hello, _I signed, _my name is Edward. What is your name?_

_Bella _ she signed back with no hesitation, _how did you learn to sign? _She looked up at me confusion clear in her eyes.

_My father taught both me and my twin sister, _I pointed to Alice, _when we were younger because Alice has a condition which means she loses her hearing at random times, it's never permanent though. What about you? How did you learn to sign? _ I looked up at her and she was staring at me in awe. I grinned at her and she shook her head before signing her reply.

_My mother signed me up for classes when I was little. When did you move to forks? I haven't seen you around before. _ I looked at her confused and was about to say she had only moved here a few days ago but she stopped me and signed before I could. _my dad is the police chief I've been coming here every summer since I was six. I know a lot of people in town. But none of them know I can sign. _

I could see something in her eyes that told me she didn't want anyone to know. She was hiding something. _ I just moved here. My dad got transferred to the hospital here so we all moved. We were in Alaska originally. _ The bell rang then signalling the end of class so I gathered my things and left with a simple bye called over my shoulder to Bella. I would have to find out what she was hiding from me, soon.

**BPOV:**

I was woken up by the feeling of Charlie shaking me gently. I could see that he was saying my name over and over. It was so easy for him to forget I couldn't hear him. I pointed to my ear and he looked at me shocked before he frowned at me. _I thought you wanted to be normal Bells. So I won't treat you as deaf, even at home. C'mon time to get up. School today_. I sighed loudly and he smiled before heaving himself off of my bed and limping out of the room. I pulled myself out of bed and dragged myself over to my window. It was a normal day in forks. Wet and miserable. I grabbed a pair of Jeans and a sweater from my closet and slipped them on before heading downstairs. I grabbed a bowl out of the sink and made myself some cereal. I wasn't really hungry so I ended up just pushing it around in the bowl. I sighed and rinsed my bowl out in the sink and headed out to my truck. I hopped in and threw my backpack onto the seat next to me. I started my truck and relaxed as I felt the steady vibration coming from the engine. At least I knew it worked. I drove carefully to the school and pulled into a spot right next to the front office. I pulled my hood up and walked into the cosy room. I took my hood down and shook my hair out, making sure it covered my ears. I hated anyone seeing my ears. They were tiny compared to everyone else's and looked sort of shrivelled up. My ears stopped growing when I was seven because of an ear infection I got. I walked nervously up to the desk and quietly asked for my schedule. The woman asked for my name and when I told her who I was she looked at me sadly. She handed over my schedule and a map of the school. I looked down, studying it. My first class was ASL. I just hoped no one realised I was deaf. I was thankful that Charlie hadn't told anyone about my other little secret, he probably didn't want it to ruin his reputation. But that was the whole point of me coming here and starting again. If no one knew no one could take advantage of it. I turned and found myself face to face with a beautiful boy. His hair was a strange bronze colour and his eyes were an amazing emerald green. I was hypnotized just looking at him. He seemed just as hypnotized as he took in my appearance, I was very embarrassed. I reached up to tuck my hair behind my ear but realised this was a mistake so I let my hand drop to my side. I automatically started signing to myself the letter J over and over again, it was a nervous habit I had picked up. I looked up at him again and he smiled at me before I hurried out of the office. I jogged into my ASL classroom and took a seat in the middle. I was one of the last to arrive.  
I scanned the room as the boy from the office came in and took a seat right at the back. There was ten of us altogether. A pixie like girl with cropped spiky hair was sat next to a blond boy who looked very calm. Behind them was a big muscled guy and a Barbie replica. I couldn't see the people behind me but I knew they were 2 girls, 2 boys and the boy from the office. I started paying attention to the teacher just in time to see that we were pairing up. The boy from the office walked over and took the seat opposite me. _Hello, _he signed, _my name is Edward. What is your name? _ He signed without hesitation which surprised me quite a bit. I quickly wondered if he was deaf but then I remembered I was the only deaf person in forks. I was a little disappointed. _Bella, _ I replied to his question, _ how did you learn to sign? _ I was confused because I had been convinced that no one in this little town would know how to sign. _My father taught both me and my twin sister, _He pointed to the pixie girl, _when we were younger because Alice has a condition which means she loses her hearing at random times, it's never permanent though. What about you? How did you learn to sign? _ He looked up at me and I realised I was staring at him, he smiled widely at me and I shook my head to clear any thought of him out of my mind.

_My mother signed me up for classes when I was little. When did you move to forks? I haven't seen you around before. _ I didn't like lying to this complete stranger but I needed to. It wasn't a complete lie, I did go to classes with her. I realised he was looking at me, he looked confused. I suddenly realised he thought I had only been in this town for a few days. _My dad is the police chief I've been coming here every summer since I was six. I know a lot of people in town. But none of them know I can sign. _

He looked at me strangely before replying. _ I just moved here. My dad got transferred to the hospital here so we all moved. We were in Alaska originally. _ I nodded, understanding why I hadn't seen him around before. He suddenly got up and I realised the bell had gone. I looked over to watch him walk away.


End file.
